Dwarka : As the sun sank into the Arabian Sea , Vhali the whale shark was welcomed as a loved guest at two new home towns. The historic city of Dwarka and the maritime city of Okha together adopted Vhali as the city mascot in a ceremony presided by the popular religious leader Morari Bapu who is espousing the cause of conservation of the whale shark.

The Dwarka Nagarpalika representative holding up the certificate adopting Vhali as the city mascot, in the presence of Morari Bapu (left)

The gesture of adopting the whale shark as the city mascot was pioneered by the city of Porbandar on the 23 rd of May this year followed by the city of Diu which held the event on the 21 st of September.

“At around six in the evening the Sunset grounds behind the circuit house in Dwarka came alive as crowds started pouring in,” said Dhiresh Joshi, the campaign manager of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), which has been running the campaign with support from two corporates, Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL) and Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Limited (GHCL).

“Morari Bapu had been preaching at the same venue all day for the past nine days and the crowds were curious about the religious leader’s association with a fish”, added Joshi.

The campaign to save the whale shark and accord it a place of pride among the people of Gujarat moves through various cities and towns of the western state of Gujarat, which has the longest coastline in India and a very high frequency of sighting the world’s biggest fish close to the shores.

The event at Dwarka was organized with the active support of TCL’s volunteers led by its dynamic HR Manager, Vivek Talwar, who is a keen environmentalist. The evening kicked off with Morari Bapu viewing the exhibition of paintings by children on the whale shark theme. This was followed by the ceremonial adoption of the whale shark by the Dwarka Nagarpalika and the Okha Gram Panchayat.

The Okha Gram Panchayat representative holding up the certificate adopting Vhali as the city mascot, in the presence of Morari Bapu (extreme right)

Appreciating the gesture of the fishermen who cut the nets to free a whale shark earlier this month, Morari Bapu said, “Karsanbhai I congratulate you and your colleagues that you released the fish at the cost of your net. Nowadays people cast all kinds of nets to trap others. You have set a good example. I would like to quote your gesture as an example for everyone to welcome this Vhali fish with love.”

Kamlesh Chamadia, the owner of the boat and Karsanbhai Chamadia, owner of K R Sea Foods were beside themselves with joy at being felicitated by none other than Morari Bapu. Certificates were also awarded to TCL volunteers who worked day in and out to make the first event in Porbandar a success.

In his address, Morari Bapu likened the whale shark visiting the shores of Gujarat to a daughter visiting her parents and said that it was indeed sad that fishermen hunted this gentle giant instead of protecting it and creating an environment conducive for it to breed.

“I see the fish in four ways: In my view it is ‘matsya avatar’, the first of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu on earth. In literature, a fish personifies eyes. Anyone with beautiful eyes is ‘meenaxi’. Killing fish is like destroying someone’s eyes. Killing a fish is like killing a disciple who has approached a master. Killing a fish is like killing an avatar. The fourth way I see fish is in our scriptures, where the mind is ‘manya mann’ like a fish. Just as the fish keeps swimming, the mind also keeps swimming in the world. Hurting someone’s mind thus amounts to murder. So anyone who kills a fish commits four murders,” said Bapu in his address to the 2500-strong crowd that eagerly hung on to every word that he said.

The street play on the whale shark theme being performed on stage in Dwarka

The street play by Manish Patadia and his theatre group, which constituted an important part of the event was appreciated by all and the performance by the artiste who played the role of the “daughter” earned her great applause While congratulating her, Morari Bapu presented her with Rs.500/- as a token of appreciation of her role as Vhali.

The play is based on the theme of Vhali, the daughter of a Gujarati fisherman returning home to give birth to her child. When the fisherman attempts to go out to sea to hunt a whale shark to earn extra money, things start going wrong with his own daughter, Vhali. A doctor who examines Vhali also explains about the protected status of the whale shark to the fisherman’s family and Vhali extracts a vow from her father to protect the fish instead of hunting it.

“The play touched an emotional chord and left many people, including Morari Bapu with tears in their eyes towards the end” reported Joshi.

Among those present at the event with Morari Bapu were Commandant Naresh Kaul of Okha Coast Guard, Mahesh Thakkar of the Dwarka Nagarpalika, Raju Dave of the Okha Gram Panchayat and Vivek Talwar of TCL.

Morari Bapu concluded by pointing at the WTI logo, “This is a picture of a deer on the logo. In the Ramayana, when Lord Ram went to kill a deer, he had to lose Sita. If you destroy any life then you will have to lose something in your house. This message is from the Ramayana.” An apt message to take home coming from a popular religious conservationist.